40 percent of Swiss wood ends up directly in the stove
Published: Monday, Dec 16th 2024, 10:20
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Wood is hardly ever recycled in Switzerland. According to an analysis published on Monday by the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa), the recycling rate for wood is just under eight percent. The figure for paper is around 70 percent.
Around 40 percent of the five to seven cubic meters of wood harvested in Switzerland each year is burned directly, according to the analysis published in the "Journal of Industrial Ecology".
This is by no means ideal, the researchers emphasized in an Empa press release on the analysis. In order to fulfill its function as a CO2 reservoir, the wood must be burned as late as possible. The forest and the use of wood play an important role in achieving the net-zero targets, the researchers wrote in the analysis.
As late as possible in the oven
The researchers advocate a so-called cascade use of wood. A felled tree would first be processed into large beams and boards and then, after a certain amount of wear and tear, into smaller boards or wood chips. The wood should therefore only go into the oven when no further use of the material is possible.
In addition to Empa, the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research (WSL) was also involved in analyzing the material flows of Swiss wood.
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